I'm thinking of starting up and I have been looking around for a camera to begin with. My choice is the canon 350D but it's a bit over my budget so I am thinking of buying the nikon 50D with the 28-55 lens kit. Can you guys give me any suggestions.

Will the photos taken with the nikon be ok to enlarge to say poster size? 1m*1m or 0.8 by 1m for example.

Most independent tests carried out upon the two cameras actually rate the Nikon D50 as being slightly superior to the 350D, so yes it will be good enough.

One thing to bear in mind is that the kit lens alone will be insufficient to photograph aircraft at most airports, unless you are really close, so you will need to invest in another longer reaching lens as well. The Canon 75-300mm and Nikon 70-300mm lenses both retail in the UK for about £150 (220EUR).

Thanks for the info, I hope to start with the 28-55 will do. I have some great spots in MAD to shoot from that are fairly close to the runway. I will definitely consider the Nikon 70-300mm for my birthday. Have to talk about it with my personal accountant (wife).

I wouldn't be surprised if Canon were to announce the replacement for the 350D, 20D, and 1DsMkII at PMA. All 3 have been around longer than their usual replacement cycle after all.

Personally I don't give a damn about having the very latest equipment. It'll be replaced by something newer anyway before I'm through with it so why care? And getting something that's been put through the wringer by tens of thousands of people before you who are mad about having the latest and greatest always just ensures that all the bugs are ironed out before you buy it at a lower price than all those guys who have to suffer through recalls and dodgy firmware upgrades.